11-year-old reported missing struck and killed in hit and run

TAMPA, FL (WTVT) - An 11-year-old boy reported missing is fatally struck in a hit-and-run, and according to reports, the person behind the wheel is still out there.

Several cars filled the street outside the home of Alexander Torres. His family is asking for privacy as they grieve the loss of this child... just 11-years-old.

Neighbor Felix Castro said, “I can't imagine the world of turmoil and pain that they're going through right now.”

Castro has lived next door to the family on Dalwood Avenue since April. He said he often saw Alexander riding his bike through the neighborhood -- and feared the worst when he heard he didn't make it home from school.

“I was just worried; I was like, why is he not here? He's an 11 year old boy. I figured he's conscious of what's going on and that people are worried about him,” Castro said.

Alexander was a student at Davis Elementary School.

His family told police he got in trouble in class Friday and his mother reprimanded him over the phone.

Rather than riding his bike straight home like usual, he detoured.

Alexander's elementary school is less than a mile from his house, so it's not surprising that he was riding his bike home. What police can't understand is what led him to Hillsborough Avenue, more than nine miles from his school.

His family reported him missing at 5 p.m. Friday.

By 2:30 a.m. Saturday, he was found on a bridge, crossing the Hillsborough River.

Janelle McGregor, a Tampa Police spokesperson said, “When officers and paramedics arrived on scene, they discovered the young boy here in the roadway. He was transported to a local hospital and pronounced deceased.”

According to a witness, a driver in a gun metal-colored Nissan Altima struck the child as he was walking, then fled the scene.

Police found Alexander's bike parked on one side of the bridge.

It's unclear why he left it there.

“The biggest question being, who was behind the wheel of that vehicle at the time of the crash?” McGregor said.